Banks applauded the overall efforts of drivers, pointing out that there have been no fatalities as a result of the construction work since the project began in January.

“There have been no traffic- or automobile-related fatalities,” Banks said. “We want this trend to continue and urge drivers to continue to be mindful of safety.”

Banks encouraged drivers to be mindful of one another when entering the work zone and to allow time to merge.

“Whenever you enter into a highway or interstate, you’re used to having an acceleration lane,” Banks said. “We’ve got key entry points along this stretch where you have to stop.”

Banks and Gooden both said the school year creates everyday school traffic, but also additional traffic for extracurricular activities such as sporting events as well as novice drivers on the road.

“When school opens, we’ll have a drastic increase in traffic flow,” Gooden said and encouraged motorists to be aware of traffic laws and bus stop-arms.

“We have 60 bus routes in this school district and we have seven stop-arm violations every day, meaning we have a significant number of people not paying attention,” he said.

Students at Fort Smith schools will start classes Aug. 19.

“We need to be able to safely discharge students to schools and to their homes,” Gooden said. “We want to encourage everyone to stop when buses stop and activate their control signals. When you drive through a school zone, put down your cell phone. Safe roads, safe operations and safe drivers will protect our students.”

“We want to bring home efforts to raise awareness and encourage drivers to be patient and be aware,” Banks said. “This is a work zone that needs to have a concern with traffic flow.”

The highway department will continue to provide updates on any pattern changes or other construction-related work that will affect traffic flow.

Banks said the $78.8 million rehabilitation project is one-third complete, and estimates it will be completed in spring 2014.